This might be their effort to integrate two major plots from the original into the reboot.

So Cristal, burned and shot, gets pulled from the building and hauled off to the hospital with little chance of survival. She's all bandaged up and all we see is a comatose "mummy" through the burn unit windows. Blake is acting as if all their issues have been shoved aside--he's totally devastated and keeps declaring his eternal love for her. After she is stabilized, they have her sent to the Burn Center in Augusta (which is IRL the best in the Southeast). Alexis is heard making some suspicious phone calls at some point. After several more episodes (focusing on finding out who set the fire and finding out who shot Cristal) the family is notified that Cristal has awakened from her coma. Blake heads to Augusta to see Cristal and to beg forgiveness, reconcile, etc. The doctors warn that she's had plastic surgery and that she might not recall much about the fire, shooting, etc. He arrives in time for their version of the infamous "taking off the bandages" scene, where we see a new actress revealed. She is relieved to see Blake still wants her despite "looking so different"--he says all he wants is to make it all up to her and get her back to Atlanta.

So she gets back eventually as they continue to investigate the fire, and she claims not to recall anything prior to the fight she got into with Alexis, and has spotty memory about the weeks prior. Sam is kind of reluctant to put any pressure on her since she is still so fragile, so he hides his feelings that she's behaving strangely; has she had some kind of head injury or something in that Alexis/Cristal throwdown prior to the fire? Steven argues that she's been through so much (especially the face-change thing) that of course she's traumatized. Blake wants to renew their vows and "buy her the world," but Cristal is still withdrawn and unwilling to go along with his romantic overtures for the most part. At the end of season cliffhanger*, Cristal boldly announces that she has decided she wants a divorce, that she can no longer deal with Blake and his constant refrain of wanting everything to be "like it was".

At the same time, in a hospital room we've never seen before, we see Nathalie Kelley hooked up to beeping, hissing life-support machines. The camera zooms in at just the moment her eyes pop open. She takes in a large gasp of air and whispers "Blake!"

So not only do we have NuDynasty's version of Steven's facial reconstruction, we also get Krystle/Rita. The woman claiming to be/acting like Cristal all that season* is Margarita, the imposter that Alexis hired (she has a charge account at Imposters-R-Us), wrapped up in some bandages and placed in the hospital right before Blake showed up. Margarita

was hired by Alexis with orders to take Blake to the cleaners in the divorce and split the money with Alexis. ​

Cristal had been moved (by Alexis) to another facility where it was assumed she would languish in her coma forever and no one would find out about the switch. NK's Cristal comes back full time in season three* to get her life back.

* If they really wanted to make it move quicker, the mid-season cliffhanger would be preferable, but if NK is serious about not being involved in season 2 at all, RealCristal could stay on ice until the end-of-season cliffhanger.

I will be very disappointed if Cristal is gone for good. She was one of my favorite characters, one I always rooted for. I certainly didn't expect Krystle's season 9 coma to be rebooted this early.

If she is indeed exiting the show for good and her dismissal is based on some stupid focus group research - didn't they say something about that back in January when they first publicly addressed their disappointment in the ratings - then they pulled the trigger too soon. Because the actress had great potential, it's just that the show was still trying to figure out its groove and Cristal's rivalry with Fallon just didn't have legs.

Regardless, what's a Dynasty without Krystle / Cristal? On the other hand, if season 2 ends up being the show's final, it'll be fitting we had zipped right through to season 9 via some kind of a black hole in that studio on fire. So, bring on Sable and go out with a bang.

I agree the show does need a Krystle type character but it doesn't necessarily need to be Cristal. I wasn't that enthusiastic about Nathalie Kelley and if they are getting rid of her to pair Blake up with someone I like better then that's fine with me. But season 2 is already shaping up to be over run with bitches, apart from Alexis and Fallon, there's Kirby who's looking like she'll be one, and Dominique's quite likely to be one too, so yes they definitely need a female who can be a moral compass for the show. Cristal was a little too catty, which the writers seem to have confused with stronger and more feisty, which is where they wanted to go with this incarnation of Krystle. And there's more than enough catty females on the horizon for season 2.

This show is running too fast and has too many things going on in a limited number of episodes for them to have Blake go through a mourning period, introduce a new love interest for Blake, have him marry her and/or have her installed in the mansion, and fashion herself as the "new Krystle". If they're really going to have a "final" departure for Cristal, Blake will either remain alone, or he'll reunite with Alexis by the end of the season (might as well say end of the series). The only hope in my opinion is for Cristal to only be out of the picture temporarily--long enough to tell whatever story the writers want to tell, but back in time to stop Alexis from "winning".

Convincing the world that Cristal is gone forever, only to have her return for the season-ending cliffhanger seems like pretty much the best way to top the first season cliffhanger.

Let's hope they don't go back to their "whateva!" attitude. That would be very disappointing.

But let me tell you what's really going on here.
You better sit down.

With all this speculation about Cristal, they hope that we forget about the Whodunit. Yeah, remember that hot topic?
I suspect they don't have a culprit at all, and now they're trying to sweep it under the carpet by manipulating our emotions.
Nice try, CW Dynasty, but that whodunit is still my priority!!

Honestly, I have a feeling that the first half of the season 2 premiere is going to focus on Cristal's death and funeral and the second half will be about whatever the writers have planned. I'll bet you that we're not even going to see her body; all we're probably going to get of her death scene is some doctor telling Blake that Cristal has passed away and maybe a couple seconds of Blake grieving over her corpse in the morgue. Then after Cristal is buried the writers are going to have the characters act like she never existed.

Then over the course of the season Alexis and Blake will fall in love and reconcile again and then at the season finale they will get married again. The wedding might be interrupted by Melissa going into labor during the wedding ceremony and giving birth. If the baby's a girl, Sammy Jo might want to name her after his late aunt.

I am 98% certain that Cristal is never coming back to the show since all indications so far seem to point towards the show basically washing their hands of her and deeming her a failure. If that's the case, I hope Steven becomes the new moral center of the show since he seems to be the only Carrington with a consistent moral compass.

I hope they don't decide to employ that infamous "last refuge of the burned-out writer"--the time jump. It's not even a year and they ought not be out of ideas!

I was reading a somewhat unrelated piece on Nathalie Kelley that claimed she felt the acting opportunities in Australia were severely limited for a Latina actress, that part of the reason she moved to America was the chance to do things other than (her words) "the half-Asian girl on a soap opera". The article was non-remarkable, but they mentioned in passing that she was "not going to be in season 2 of Dynasty". This statement grabbed my attention, since the article was not focused on her departure from Dynasty, yet they used that same, awkward wording that she had used with another media outlet. It's as if they (like the previous writers) have some kind of obligation to say things in that stilted way because they know more than they're letting on and trying to side-step what's going on.

Back in the 1980s, the major tabloids had spies planted all over the sets of the big four nighttime soaps digging for every possible scoop and spoiler. If nuDynasty had even half the interest of those times, the Enquirer, Star, etc. would have dug up the truth by now and plastered it all over their front pages.

I'm wondering if NK saw the writing on the wall with bringing on NS.. and the fact that NS and LG had good enemy chemistry that got a lot more attention than the fights between NK and LG did? And perhaps maybe she assumed she would be pushed to the side on this show like she was back in Australia?

have some kind of obligation to say things in that stilted way because they know more than they're letting on and trying to side-step what's going on.

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Well, if she's really leaving Dynasty then she still won't be in season 2. The "season 2" part makes it less final and therefore less spoiler-ish.
However, if season 2 turns out to be very entertaining then maybe we're no longer interested in Cristal. Maybe that's something to consider in case they're plotting a surprise return.

I agree the show does need a Krystle type character but it doesn't necessarily need to be Cristal. I wasn't that enthusiastic about Nathalie Kelley and if they are getting rid of her to pair Blake up with someone I like better then that's fine with me. But season 2 is already shaping up to be over run with bitches, apart from Alexis and Fallon, there's Kirby who's looking like she'll be one, and Dominique's quite likely to be one too, so yes they definitely need a female who can be a moral compass for the show. Cristal was a little too catty, which the writers seem to have confused with stronger and more feisty, which is where they wanted to go with this incarnation of Krystle. And there's more than enough catty females on the horizon for season 2.

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I agree. If the series becomes a bunch of catty bitches no one is going to enjoy that at all. A series has to establish itself in some realism otherwise people will look at Dynasty 2.0 as nothing to offer us workaholics. I enjoy escapism television just as long as I can identify with a character or characters. My recent viewing of this reincarnation of Dynasty had me rooting for Cristal, Steven and Sam. I was intrigued by Anders and Michael. The three main characters I should be enthralled by; Blake, Fallon and Alexis left a bitter taste in my mouth.

This series promoted itself as how the 1% of the 1% live right? None of them had any class. Fallon's constant put downs with a voice which could strip wallpaper shows a lack of education. I left feeling a little flat from the whole experience.

I was reading a somewhat unrelated piece on Nathalie Kelley that claimed she felt the acting opportunities in Australia were severely limited for a Latina actress

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I'd argue acting opportunities in Australia for both sexes are sparse. Home & Away and Neighbours can only accommodate so many. It's why some go to America to increases their chances of making it big or just securing work. But I'd suggest that actors stop using the excuse roles are limited because I'm whatever. If you are skilled at your chosen craft acting is a trade that can cross borders.